


A Priceless Meeting

by chiakitea



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Christmas Fluff, Comfort, Fluff, M/M, Panic Attacks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-10
Updated: 2017-12-10
Packaged: 2019-02-09 09:43:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,013
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12885213
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chiakitea/pseuds/chiakitea
Summary: Requested by @ThreadThoseNeedles on Voltron AminoPrompt: "Keith and his older brother, Shiro, are walking together in a large department store. Keith checks out a store window for a moment before losing sight of his brother. When he finds him, in order to avoid getting left behind again, Keith grabs onto the older man's hand.But it's not Shiro's."Keith feels his cheeks gradually start to burn when he finds himself staring a little too closely into the attractive, freckled face of a certain Latino male.





	A Priceless Meeting

"Shiro, did you really have to bring me with you? You're the one who spends practically every second with Matt; I don't think you even  **need**  my help. Plus, it's freezing in here and you know I hate the cold." Keith's expression was one of exasperation and annoyance as he wrapped his arms around himself. In an attempt to generate some warmth, he rubbed along his arms, additionally tucking in his hands into the crooks of his elbows to keep his fingers warm too.

Shiro gave him a weak smile, feeling slightly guilty for having dragged his brother along with him when he so clearly didn't want to come. He ran his hand through his hair in a display of anxiety before taking off the black scarf he was wearing and wrapping it around Keith's neck. 

When he noticed Keith's mouth opening in a protest, he held up his hand in a gesture to "listen". "Use it. You need it more anyway. I'm sorry for forcing you to come with me, but I just wanted an additional opinion to make sure he really liked his Christmas gift; and since I trust your word, I thought you'd be the best option."

Keith felt himself getting slightly embarrassed by the kind words but tried to mask it with a sigh and faintly cheeky smile. "Questionable, but alright; I'll try to help you out. Do you have anything in mind or-?" He trailed off the question with a raised eyebrow.

Shiro chuckled at the first statement before taking a moment to think. "Well, at first I wanted to go with something he'd obviously like, like a new computer, but something with sentimental value would be better."

 "Sentimental value.." Keith closed his eyes for a moment, thinking over some ideas. When one in particular stuck out, he nodded to himself. Opening his eyes once more, he tilted his head slightly to the side. "How about a ring?"

"What?" The look of flustered bewilderment that crossed Shiro's face at the question made Keith laugh. 

"Yeah. To show that you're committed to each other and stuff. It doesn't necessarily have to mean you have the intention of getting married." To embarrass Shiro even further, Keith haughtily muttered the words "Not yet anyway" with a smirk. 

Shiro coughed into the back of his hand with a pink face. He ignored the comment in favor of addressing the gift idea (and not get teased even more). He thought it over for a second. "It's..not a bad idea. Although..I don't really know his ring size? I've never bought him jewelry before."

Keith clicked his tongue and brought out his phone. He swiped the lock screen, not even looking up while he went to his messages. "I'll ask Pidge. She most likely knows. Do you know what type of ring you're going to get him?"

Shiro let out an audible sigh and shook his head. He stuffed his hands into his pockets. "Not at all. I think I'll look for myself what ring I feel suits him though, that'd be the best option."

Keith nodded in agreement before gesturing towards the countless stores ahead of them. In an attempt to both lighten the mood and ease Shiro's anxiety, he weakly kicked against Shiro's shoes. 

"C'mon. Christmas is tomorrow and I don't want us to get kicked out of the department store for staying past the closing time. You're already old, I don't want to take longer than necessary." 

Keith's tongue peeked out of his mouth playfully when he took note of Shiro's disapproving look. The older man sighed in slight exasperation, but his small smile betrayed his true feelings towards the jab. He took a second to look at the stores encircling them before walking ahead.

"If I remember correctly, the jewelry section was towards the back of the department store. I'll lead the way." 

Keith followed wordlessly but found himself examining the embellished stores that passed him with every step. Stockings and wreaths covered the majority of the stores' entrances. Through the transparent glass, employees wearing Santa hats, or even full-out costumes, tended to the last-minute shoppers. It even **smelled** like Christmas. Eggnog and hot chocolate from the coffee shops roamed freely, reeling in customers like an enticing spell. The real show-stopper though, was the Christmas tree.

It was huge.

Colorful strands of tinsel and ornaments carved in intricate patterns formed a path towards the top of the tree. People every now and then would stop to hang their own ornaments. At the very top, a glass star glittered and glowed brilliantly in a majestic display. 

Eventually, Keith found himself standing in front of the tree, taking in all the details. The smell of pine gave him conflicted feelings, and it was only when he realized that he wasn't following Shiro anymore that his attention was redirected.

"Shiro?" Keith's eyes darted frantically in all directions for sight of his brother, a panicked look taking over his face. He walked around briskly through the crowd people and calmed down a little when he caught sight of an all-too-familiar blue flannel. The teen hurriedly made his way towards Shiro and grabbed on tightly to the other's hand to assure that he didn't get left behind again.

"Walk a little sl-"

The words died in Keith's throat when the face that he was met with wasn't Shiro's.

Freckles.

A galaxy of them. They splashed across the stranger's nose and cheeks, miraculously standing out against the pretty sun-kissed skin he had. From the way that Keith had to look up, he was about one or two inches taller, lean but slightly built. The other teen's mouth curved up into a devilishly attractive smirk that made Keith's mouth dry up.

Eyes the color of sapphires glinted in amusement. "Holding hands already? Take me out first, will you, Mullet?"

Keith's face reddened in both anger and embarrassment, more so the latter. He quickly retracted his hand as if the other's hand was a fire and tried to leave but couldn't. He felt a knot form in his throat and his stomach clench in uneasiness as he looked at the thousands of people moving about.

"Hey, dude..are you alright..?" The pretty stranger's voice was soft, laced with concern. To Keith, the voice was muffled and faint. His breathing became erratic and his vision was starting to blur. In wasn't until the stranger pressed his hands firmly against Keith's cheeks that Keith was brought back into the present.

"You're about to have a panic attack..listen to me, breathe in for seven counts and breathe out for seven counts. I'll count for you, okay?"

As the other started to count, Keith followed along, breathing in through his nose and out through his mouth. This went on for a minute or two. Keith didn't even realize he had closed his eyes until he felt calm enough to open them. He was met with a soft smile and nod, curtesy of the stranger.

"I know this isn't exactly the time for an introduction, but I'm Lance. Would you like to go to less crowded place, so you don't get overwhelmed again..?"

Keith quietly nodded, following after Lance and not commenting on the fact that their fingers were interlocked. Instead, he took comfort in the gesture and squeezed. Lance squeezed back.  
\---  
"Sorry about that, I just..I hate being in crowded places, and the fact that I was alone made it even worse. It felt like I was going to suffocate and pass out. Also, you really didn't have to buy me anything.." Keith stared at the cup of hot chocolate in front of him, fidgeting with Shiro's scarf.

Lance drank some of his own hot chocolate, letting out a pleased sigh at the feeling of warmth that overtook his whole body. He shook his head. "There's no need to apologize, it happens. And nonsense, I wanted to treat you after what just happened. You must be worn out."

"And you thought the best way to remedy tiredness was to drink something that makes you even more tired..?" One of Keith's eyebrow raised in bemusement.

Lance's cheeks flushed a soft pink in embarrassment. "I was too worried about you to think it through."

Keith laughed, Lance joining in until a comfortable silence took over. The two took a moment to enjoy the other's company, listening to the faint chatter and dull buzzing of the coffee machines until Lance spoke up.

"You don't have to answer if you don't want to, but if you don't like being in crowds by yourself, then why were you?"

Keith went quiet for a second, taking out his phone and groaning in slight frustration. "Shiro.." He scrolled through his calls and saw countless missed calls from the person in question.

"Is..he your boyfriend or something?" Something like disappointment flashed in Lance's eyes, but Keith dismissed it as wishful thinking. The ravenet snorted, but the snort turned into a breathy laugh.

"God, no. He's my older brother, well, adoptive older brother. He dragged me here with him since he couldn't decide on a gift for his boyfriend. Anyway, I was following him to the jewelry section but lost him on the way after getting distracted. I thought you were him and grabbed onto your hand thinking it was his. Then..yeah.." Keith bit his lip in slight apprehension, looking anywhere but directly into Lance's eyes.

Lance chuckled, and Keith's eyes narrowed at the action. "What?" His voice held a defensive tone.

The taller of the two held his up his hands in a display of surrender. "Nothing, nothing. It's just, I was thinking of how cute it was that your solution for not getting left behind was to hold onto the person's hand. It's endearing."

Keith felt his face burn hotly at the other's words. He pulled down the beanie on his head to a point where his face was covered. His voice came out muffled. "I hate you.."

Lance reached out and uncovered Keith's face, placing the beanie back to its original place. "C'mon, don't be like that. I want to look at your cute face."

Keith kicked the other's legs from under the table. "Shut up."

Lance simply laughed at the reaction and leaned into the back of his seat. "Random question, but are you doing anything tomorrow for Christmas?"

Keith thought for a moment and shook his head. "Not really. I was thinking of maybe seeing the annual lights and Christmas tree that get put up in the main plaza. People usually wait there until midnight with family members and carol and stuff."

Lance's eyes lit up at the response. "My family and I actually go there every year. If you're going to go, do you want to meet up with us?"

The corners of Keith's mouth curved into a smile. "Yeah, that sounds nice. I'll invite Matt and Shiro, I'm sure they'll like it too."

"Great! I'll see you tomorrow then, Mullet."

Keith groaned in feigned annoyance. "Don't call me that."

Lance tsked, waggling his finger innocently. "No need to get mad. It isn't my fault **someone** didn't tell me their name."

Keith shook his head, smile present on his face. "I'm Keith."

"Keith.." Lance smiled at the way the name rolled off his tongue. It felt right.

The taller male stood up and made his way towards Keith in long, slow strides. Once he was right by Keith's side, he placed his hand on one of Keith's cheeks, leaning down and planting a warm kiss on the crown of the other's head.

"Well, **Keith** , I'll see you tomorrow."

Keith froze in place, warm and tingly, until he heard the sound of the coffee shop's door closing. He placed his head against the cool table and resisted the urge to yell in utter excitement and joy. It got even better when he heard the sound of paper crinkling from within his hand. He looked down and spotted a piece of paper with digits on it.

Lance's number.

**A truly priceless meeting.**

 


End file.
